Shift Lever Replacement

[Jonas]

The primary case is too close to the end of the shifter shaft to allow the lever to slide out on the shaft far enough to get it off. If you opened the arm up enough to slip it off the shaft it would be irreparably damaged.
.

No worse then being cut with a dremel tool. My suggestion is to eliminate the dremel tool cutting time and risk. Could shorten the time of the Arm replacement. It's only a thought, I have not done it yet. But I will be putting the new arm on in the near future.

 

[Jonas]

I ordered the Betterlever on Sunday. Arrived today (Tuesday) with a installation DVD.

It has a nice chrome finish. I plan to put it on tonight.

 

[Jonas]

I put the shifter on my bike. This what I learned.

Do;

Follow the installation video.



Don't (Laurel and Hardy Version)

Use cheap cut off wheels you have laying around you bought in a kit for 3 bucks at the flea market. Buy the ones the video suggests.

Don't Forget to use the magnet. I did not loose a piece of the shifter when I was taking it apart. But I do know how hard it can be to fish a piece out that falls and gets wedged between the belt and a crevis on the back side of the inner primary.

You start with only one bolt barelly in, when installing the new arm. I think the video say two threads. Make sure it is not to loose and have the small section falls off when installing. See above (Magnet does not work on the new shifter.)


If you can follow directions this is a piece of cake. In my case I could have been banned for life from HDT. If my words were in writing.

The shifter is very well made. Makes sense to go this route if you use the Harley Arm, you know it is going to wear out again. I give it two thumbs up.

 

[glider.]

Glad you got back to us on the replacement and thanks for the write up too.

 

[fxrshog]

As loose as my arm was, it wouldn't rotate around the shaft. We can all acknowledge that from the universal problems encountered with the arm that it is a flawed design. Further compounded by the surrounding design flaw that requires 3 hours and $100 of gaskets, seals and replacement fluids to remove and replace the arm from the primary side. You can limp along, or improve and forget.

The primary case is too close to the end of the shifter shaft to allow the lever to slide out on the shaft far enough to get it off. I don't know how you could possibly pry the arm open far enough to fall off the shaft while it is installed. I suppose you could try it on an arm held in vise first and see how it works out, then try it for real in the confines behind your primary. The whole point of the Dremel cutting is to make it easy.

I've done the tranny-side alternative when I changed the shifter springs and shaft: removed the exhaust, removed the right tranny cover and the top cover. Carefully tapped out the carrier plate with the two shafts in it, then pulled out the gears in sequence until I got to the shifter shaft. Loosen the shifter arm. Somehow deal with the lock ring on the end of the shifter shaft behind the lever and pull it out, shifter lever drops to the floor. Reverse to reassemble.

vs an hour with a dremel tool......and a technical/design improvement. PM me for pictures.

karmutzen,
I'm getting ready to replace the shifter arm on my 04 dresser, would you please email a few pictures of the project.
Thanks for your time.














suyemremp

 

[fredm1130]

I bought one and I installed it it works great and didnt need to remove the primary, but a note when cutting off the old lever,,,, if you have a dyna as I do then remove the coil for better exxcess to the old lever and dremel

 

[Flash57]

Does anyone know if Conrad is still churning these shifter lever rods out? I’ve tried calling & e-mailing him all to no avail. Again anybody know what gives?

Thanx, ~Flash~

 

[Bodeen]

fredm1130 at entry #25 just above you bought one for his bike. Not sure how long ago he got it. I know Conrad has had some supply issues in the past. If I couldnt get an answer from them in one form or another, I certainly wouldn't send them any of my money.

 

[harrly]

I also had the loose shifter and before doing one of the replacement options, this is what I did that fixed it. When I first realized it was loose, I tried tightening the bolt. It wouldn't budge. That made me think (and hope) that it actually may be bottoming out. I removed the bolt, introduced it to a grinding wheel and shortened it a bit. Reinstalled it and it has been nice and tight for over a year now. Worth a shot for any of you dealing with the same issue. Good luck.

 

[chuckb]

I installed the Better Lever after Sturgis in 2010 after driving through most of Wyoming and Colorado in 5th gear. Although the shifter had been feeling loose for several months, I didn't think anything about it. Last week I started to have problems getting it in first gear and only thought I needed a clutch adjustment. Last Wednesday it wouldn't go into 1st at all but I could down shift to neutral. It eventually wouldn't down shift at all and I had to drive from downtown Denver to my home (about 20 miles) in 4th. I pulled the lever off and it was slipping on the shifter shaft. I filed the grooves clean on the shifter shaft and reinstalled it. I also cleaned the threads on the bolts and the lever. All is working OK for now. This teaches me to watch it a little more closely. I need to check the bolts more often even though Loctite Blue is my friend.